4.  The applicant was born in 1966 and lives in Wolfurt.
5.  By decision of 17 November 1998 the Hard municipality granted a request by H., a building company, for permission to construct an apartment block, situated next to the applicant’s property. H. carried out the construction work and, since the building deviated from one of the authorised height levels by 21 centimetres, it requested an amendment of the building permit on 19 November 1999.
6.  On 7 February 2000 the mayor of Hard granted the amended building permit. He dismissed the applicant’s objection that the ramp of the building’s underground car park failed to comply with the statutory distance from his property.
7.  The applicant lodged an appeal with the Hard Municipal Council (Gemeinderat) on 23 February 2000. He alleged, in particular, that the covered ramp of the underground car park did not constitute a construction (Bauwerk) within the meaning of section 2(e) of the Vorarlberg Building Act, for which a distance of two metres from the adjacent property was required, but was a part of the building within the meaning of section 2(g) of the said Act, for which a minimum distance of three metres had to be observed. In addition he claimed that, at any rate, the ramp was too high.
8.  On 12 December 2000 the Hard Municipal Council dismissed the applicant’s appeal. It found that the applicant had failed to raise his argument in the initial proceedings concerning the building permit and was therefore precluded from raising it now in the proceedings concerning a mere request for amendment of the building permit. In any event, the covered ramp to the underground car park could neither be classified as a building or part of a building, but qualified as a construction within the meaning of section 2(e) of the Vorarlberg Building Act. The minimum distance from the applicant’s plot of land was therefore two metres and had in fact been respected.
9.  Subsequently, on 28 December 2000 the applicant filed an objection (Vorstellung) with the Bregenz District Administrative Authority, contesting the Municipal Council’s competence, because the respective appeals commission had not been duly composed following municipal elections. In addition, he repeated that the amendment of the permit did not only involve minor changes, but constituted an overall change of the project.
10.  On 31 May 2001 the District Administrative Authority dismissed the applicant’s objection.
11.  The applicant lodged a complaint with the Administrative Court on 20 July 2001, repeating his arguments. Moreover, he requested an oral hearing.
12.  On 28 September 2001 the District Administrative Authority submitted its observations.
13.  On 20 March 2003 the Administrative Court, without a hearing, quashed the District Administrative Authority’s decision and remitted the case back to it. Referring to a previous decision in a similar case, it found that contrary to section 53 of the Vorarlberg Municipal Act the Municipal Council’s decision had been signed by the mayor and not by the president of the appeals commission.
14.  On 14 May 2003 the District Administrative Authority granted the applicant’s objection of 28 December 2000 and remitted the case to the Hard Municipal Council.
15.  Upholding its decision of 12 December 2000, the Municipal Council again dismissed the applicant’s appeal on 19 August 2003.
16.  On 2 September 2003 the applicant lodged a further objection (Vorstellung) with the Bregenz District Administrative Authority, which the latter dismissed by a decision of 21 January 2004. It found that the ramp of the underground car park was only partly covered and was thus to be qualified as a construction within the meaning of section 2(e) of the Vorarlberg Building Act. The fact that the building was 21 centimetres higher than initially authorised did not change that assessment.
17.  Subsequently, on 6 February 2004, the applicant lodged a further complaint with the Administrative Court. He requested an oral hearing and, relying on Article 6 of the Convention, complained that he had never been heard in person during the proceedings. He contested the authority’s finding that the ramp of the underground car park was only partly covered. The authority had wrongly applied the statutory minimum distance between his plot of land and that ramp. Complying with an order of the Administrative Court, the applicant supplemented his complaint on 13 April 2004. The District Administrative Authority submitted its observations on 6 July 2004.
18.  On 21 June 2005 the Administrative Court, without a hearing, dismissed the applicant’s complaint as being unfounded. It upheld the District Administrative Authority’s decision as to the minimum distance from the applicant’s property. Referring to the case of Allan Jacobsson v. Sweden (no. 2) (19 February 1998, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1998‑I) it held that no legal or factual questions had been at stake, which required the holding of an oral hearing.
19.  The decision was served on the applicant’s counsel on 25 July 2005.